1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to the field of medical care products. More particularly, it pertains to medical hardward and specifically, a hanger assembly for an upright pole upon which is hung various medical devices such as intravenous bags, blood monitors, nurse identification devices and blood pressure equipment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Inpatient medical care has been traditionally confined to the hospital. Hospitals have large storage areas and thus there was no need for medical hardware to be collapsible and it was stored in fully extended geometry. All that has since changed. With higher hospital care costs, hospital fixed expenses have been forced to be minimized and storage area has been converted to bed space. This requires hospital hardware to be stored in smaller spaces and extreme hardship has been encountered in that fully extended hardware is not only difficult to store in a confined area but substantial damage is caused to the hardware under these conditions.
In addition, there has been a surge in the development of small, economic treatment facilities in an effort to minimize capital expenses. These small treatment facilities have little storage area and medical hardware is required to be capable of confined storage.
Further, the median age of the united State population is on the increase. This has resulted in more elderly people and concomitantly a greater need for medical care. The government has been instrumental in attempting to decrease hospital and medical care coverage and this has resulted in private efforts to conduct medical treatment in the home. Home treatment, such as administration of intravenous solutions and extended convalescent care necessitates the transport of medical hardward via automobile and these factors have fostered the development of collapsible medical hardware.